Letter from the US: Talk is cheap in US presidential election

History shows us that there is a long way to go from candidate proposals to policy implementation

Energy policy has a chequered history when it comes to the last 12 presidential elections. It played a significant role in some. In others, different matters pushed it out of the limelight. Over these 48 years, the key takeaway is that the agendas candidates discussed or promised during campaigns were seldom, if ever, implemented as originally proposed, if implemented at all. Energy was front and centre in the 1976 election as Jimmy Carter, the former Georgia governor, took on the incumbent Gerald Ford. A key pillar of Carter’s rhetoric was his claim the US lacked a coherent and effective energy policy. Ford, in contrast, blamed regulation for many of the nation’s energy-related problems. Af